Pakistan: Toll from army post attack rises to 8

People gather at the site of a suicide bombing in Hangu, Pakistan, Friday, Feb 1, 2013. A suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside a Shiite mosque in northwestern Pakistan as worshippers were leaving Friday prayers, killing several people and wounding many in the latest apparent sectarian attack in the country, police said. (AP Photo/Abdul Basit)

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani officials say the death toll from a pre-dawn Taliban assault on an army post in the country's northwest has risen to eight. They say 12 attackers also died.

The Saturday assault followed a suicide bombing at a Shiite Muslim mosque elsewhere in the northwest on Friday that killed 24 people. It was the latest in a rising number of sectarian attacks in the country.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for both attacks. The group has been waging a bloody insurgency against the government for years and has carried out previous attacks on the country's minority Shiite sect.

A security official said the raid on the army post in Serai Naurang town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province killed two civilians and six security force personnel. He spoke anonymously, as is customary.